So, what exactly do you think of us?

It’s a little bit scary when you send surveys out (what if no one replies? what if nobody loves us?). But we’re always glad we did. It’s easy to spend lots of time doing things we think would be good, whereas it can be much more helpful to find out what you actually want.

With bated breath we sent one out recently to many of you who’ve travelled with us. Here’s some of what you said – the good, the bad and the pretty clever.

9 out of 10 guests prefer…

4 things you* said…

92% of you would recommend us to a friend

This makes us very happy. Thank you. (Hello 8%, tell us what we can do for you in the comments below.)

You like short trips to cities

We kind of knew this already, but it’s interesting to hear it from you. However that’s not to say that we won’t continue to have plenty of lovely country pads for groups and families on long holidays.

You prefer us to hotels because…

You can 1. save money, 2. get local knowledge, 3. have a kitchen, plus you get more flexibility, comfort and private space… Some said you don’t like doing housework (who does?), and worried about the place not being clean. We do ask hosts to make sure the place is clean, but we’ll see if we can raise awareness of this.

4 things you want…

It must be telepathy, but shortly after the survey went out, we added ‘total trip price’ to the site, so that you now see the full price of the trip, with no funny surprises when you click ‘book’.

An easier booking process

We understand that it can be nailbiting waiting for a host to accept your request. That’s why we introduced instantly bookable places. Look out for ‘Instant Booking’ in your search listings, and you can book them straight away. We’ve now also made it easier for first-timers to book by removing the need to register with us. Tip: message the host to check availability before you book.

More offers!

We think so too, so we just gave members €15/£12 off your next booking in the 9flats newsletter. To receive future offers from us, join our mailing list.

More places in more cities

We’re working on getting more listings, especially around events like the London Olympics and EURO 2012, but the best new listings are from personal recommendations. So invite a friend to list their place, and when they do, we’ll give you €10/£8 for each one.

4 things you suggest…

More local info – we agree, we’re working on it.

‘People who booked these flats, also booked…’ – nice, let’s see what our developers can do.

‘Espresso machine’ search filter – smashing idea. We want to make this happen.

Dating feature – hmmm, really?

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts, and congratulations to the five winners of the €50 9flats and €25 Amazon vouchers. Please keep the feedback coming. Who knows, you may even see your own genius idea appear on our site one day.

PS Host survey results coming soon. Watch this space…

*Who’s ‘you’?

It appears that you are mostly 25-35, half male, half female, based in Europe, work in an office and travel five or more times a year for weekend city trips.